Best of 2009 Blog Challenge: Best Project

I had some of my photography printed by my good friend Paul and  Lafayette’s art market pARTiculars liked my work so much they chose it to join their collection. I also opened my own etsy shop.

I picked my meditation practice back up.

Jim and I sold our house, simplified our belongings, packed up our dogs, and moved to Costa Rica.

I participated (and won) NaNoWriMo by writing 50,000 words in the month of November. I now have the beginnings of a collection of short stories based on my life.

I’ve started my exploration of vegan, gluten free, and refined sugar free baking.

I began a regular habit of exercising, often walking four miles a day on our wonderful beach here in Bejuco.

I started SamAhern.com and even when I take a break (like in the month of November) I just keep coming back. I love this medium for keeping track of and sharing what I’m up to. I am so grateful for the response it has had.

Notice how I don’t really choose one thing to be THE BEST? Yeah, I’m just not willing to do it. I’m already forgetting or omitting many things due to my not wanting to blog so much that I don’t have a life. There is no such thing as “the best” anyway. (Even though I have a habit of being overly dramatic and proclaiming that something is indeed “the best” at times.) My fact is that my life is overflowing full of good stuff (which I might add is awesome to be reminded of when the earlier part of this year was a whole pile of suck).

Also, I haven’t been doing the prompts for this challenge in order or on the days suggested. I may keep this thing going into 2010. (Woah. Is that allowed?! Hahaha.) As I often say: “I do what I want!” So be it.

And the winner is…..ME!

That’s right, I won NaNoWriMo! <little dance> I surpassed the 50,000 word quota and although I’m nowhere near having a completed work I am thrilled to have written so much this month!

I do want to point out that I did not attempt to write a novel, but instead wrote….<shhhh>…nonfiction. <GASP!> I know, but I’ve lately been much more interested in the real stories of others and therefore decided to write/type some of my own. (By the way, if you’re thinking of what to get me for the holidays I’d love a story from your life.) At this point I have basically three (although more may be added) short stories from my life. They share similar themes and maybe, someday, will be compiled in a properly bound book that one can hold. There is much more to be written and much editing to do, but who cares. The process has been fun! So fun I’m going to continue working on it!

I’d like to thank all of those who supported me through this challenge, especially my biggest cheerleader Jim. I love you and your support of my writing and meeting goals I set for myself. You rock!

If ever you thought about writing something, anything, I strongly suggest participating. They do it every November and although you could do it on your own, at anytime, it’s great to be a part of something bigger than yourself. Plus, the pep-talk emails are a riot. I laughed aloud on a regular basis and even had to read parts to Jim. One suggested that if you’re worried about your word count maybe one of your characters habits could be reading aloud from a dictionary for hours at a time. Now that’s funny right there.

If you want to find out more about National Novel Writing Month, The Young Writers Program, Script Frenzy (in April), or how to donate check out their website.

Next on the agenda…

Very Short Term Goals:

• Go into San Jose to look at cars, possibly shop a little, and hopefully see a film!

In General Goals:

• Start Posting Regularly (I’ve got lots of things to share from the last month and a bit!)
• Continue to Walk on the Beach as much as possible
• Continue to Cook/Bake/Eat a more Vegan, Refined Sugar Free, and Gluten Free Food
• Continue my Writing
• Catch up with everything and everyone I’ve put on hold this month

Next Big Goals:

• Pull Together my Creative Xmas Gifts for friends and family (budget is tight this year but I’ve got a fun idea)
• Take a Surfing Lesson (or a few)
• Plan our trip to Nicaragua to renew our visas

NaNoWriMo

I first heard about NaNoWriMo after it happened last year. I thought it was an interesting idea, but that I probably would never have the time to do it. <chuckle>

So, basically, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. Over the years it has become much more than a national event, with people writing in many languages, and towns across the world challenging each other to the highest word count. You’re given from the 1st to the 30th of November to write a novel consisting of 50,000 words. If you submit your work by the end of the contest/month deadline and meet the word count, you win!

I read a blog post yesterday reminding me about it and thought, “you’ve been throwing around the idea of writing a book, so why not use this as a way to get it started?” That thought was then followed by much fear and self-doubt. I told Jim about the “contest” followed by how I’d like to be in a more settled and balanced place before committing to something like that. He laughed replying, “If everyone waited to feel ‘ready’ and have all the perfect conditions, nothing would ever get accomplished.” He totally cut through excuses.

So I’ve registered. You can too, here. The idea is not to have a polished, finished product. I hope not to worry about editing, but rather meeting the word count, which works out to about 1,667 words a day. (Holy cow, what have I gotten myself into?!) I have never been very confident about my writing, as I was always more of a math and science person. I’ll strive to “win,” but even if I don’t, I’ll have written more than if I hadn’t committed to writing at all, and I’ll have had the experience of trying!

So I’m not allowed to start writing until the 1st, but I am allowed to start organizing and planning my plot, setting, characters, themes, etc. Having very little creative writing education, I’m researching and learning a lot! Please send vibes and thoughts of creativity and balance! And if you decide to participate or know someone who is, please let me know! Having a sense of community always helps!